Bordeaux are going down to Ligue 2 and may not return for some time

Bordeaux are not known for their stability. Since appointing former France defender Willy Sagnol in 2014, the club has burned through 10 managers. Only two of them have lasted more than 42 games. Bordeaux have lurched from struggling in the bottom half to racing toward Europe before imploding again. Their cycle of boom and bust has finally proven unsustainable. Their goalless draw with Lorient on Saturday leaves them bottom of the Ligue 1 table, three points behind Metz, who occupy the relegation playoff spot. With just one game to play and with a far worse goal difference than Metz, Bordeaux are going down to Ligue 2.

Bordeaux have won 13 domestic trophies, including six league titles – most recently in 2009 – but their relegation has been coming. They had looked in danger of going down last season when they lost 4-1 to fellow strugglers Lorient in late April, but they rallied and won three of their last four games to stay up.

That sense of desperation returned in 2022. Bordeaux should have the quality in their squad to finish in mid-table – especially after they signed three seemingly players in January – but their performances have been shambolic. Repeated defensive capitulations – including a 6-1 loss at Lyon, a 5-0 defeat by Reims and a 6-0 thrashing from Rennes – have meant they have conceded 89 goals in 37 league games. They have by far the worst defensive record in Europe’s top five leagues. They did not keep a clean sheet this season until early April.

David Guion replaced former Switzerland manager Vladimir Petkovic in February and was meant to bring the team organisation and stoicism. At Reims, his team had low-blocked their way into Europe in the shortened 2019-20 campaign, when they finished sixth with the